By JOHN BRANCH

February 6, 2014

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia — In snowboarding, it is extremely difficult to be the defending Olympic gold medalist in halfpipe and hold similar expectations in slopestyle. Shaun White knows this better than anyone — almost.

Torah Bright of Australia won the halfpipe gold medal four years ago in the Vancouver Games, too. But rather than drop out of this year’s slopestyle event, as White did the day before the competition began, she went out and finished second in slopestyle qualifying on Thursday, earning a spot in the women’s final on Sunday.

And next week, after the halfpipe competition, Bright will compete in snowboard cross, making her the sport’s lone triple threat.

“I’m not focusing on the result or medals,” Bright said, sounding like the anti-White. “I’m just here to focus on snowboarding, the sport I love.”

The Winter Olympics began Thursday under bright sunshine against the snow-covered Caucasus Mountains, with a procession of snowboarders sliding and flying down a series of obstacles and jumps in the new event of slopestyle.

The tall, spindly bleachers at Rosa Khutor Extreme Park were mostly empty when Billy Morgan of Britain became the first competitor of the Games. The public-address announcers described the action in English, the language of snowboarding but one that most of the home fans could not understand. Those who gathered gave the heartiest cheers to a Russian competitor, Alexey Sobolev, who finished 10th.

Mark McMorris, considered a favorite in the event, reacted to his score at the finish line.

Mike Blake / Reuters

The fans might not have noticed the absence of White, the famous American. But his announcement about 18 hours earlier that he would drop out of slopestyle to focus exclusively on his quest to win a third consecutive gold medal in the halfpipe reverberated through the competition.

“He’s a big star,” said Stale Sandbech of Norway, one of eight men to advance to the men’s final on Saturday. “Hopefully we don’t end up with a guy who wins and everybody says, ‘Ah, but Shaun wasn’t there.’ That would be the sad part.”

White said he dropped out because of concerns about the slopestyle course, afraid an injury could derail his halfpipe ambitions next week. But he was not considered a medal favorite in the event, leading a pair of highly ranked Canadians to suggest on Twitter that White was scared of not winning. His last-minute announcement also annoyed some of his teammates.

“I’m surprised he pulled out so late,” the American Chas Guldemond said. “I knew it was coming sometime this year.”

Asked why he believed that, Guldemond declined to comment further. But he said the late decision was unfair to those who might have been invited to Sochi as part of the four-man American slopestyle team had it come sooner.

It is unclear who would have made the team in that case. Kyle Mack, 15, was fifth in the point system used to determine the team. But he did not have enough points from the International Ski Federation to qualify for the Olympics, the United States Ski and Snowboard Association said. Next on the points list was Brandon Davis, whose best finish in five qualifying events was third place. His Olympic spot would not have been assured because coaches have discretion over team selections.

At the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy, a late injury knocked the American Jayson Hale out of the snowboard cross competition. Graham Watanabe, who had narrowly missed the team, was in Italy, helping the team wax boards. He took Hale’s place, borrowing a pair of women’s snowboarding pants because he did not have a team uniform.

The Americans had no such luck this time. A United States federation spokesman, Tom Kelly, said the process of replacing athletes usually takes several days. White’s late departure from the event left a hole that could not be filled.

“It is unfortunate, but we respect the athletic decision he made,” Kelly said.

The remaining members of the field took to the rolling course of rails and jumps to determine which eight would receive a pass to the finals. Everyone else advanced to the semifinals — eliminating athletes from the Olympics a day before the opening ceremony would not be sporting — for a second chance to gain entry to the finals.

Mark McMorris of Canada, considered the event’s favorite, did not score in the top eight. Nursing a broken rib, he will return for the semifinals. So will Guldemond, who finished one spot out of the top eight, and the Americans Sage Kotsenburg and Ryan Stassel, who finished in the middle of the pack.

McMorris and Kotsenburg were among those who questioned the judging. A panel scores athletes for “overall impression,” which leaves plenty of room for interpretation in a sport in which tricks advance greatly from one season to the next.

“It’s hard on your mind when you’re trying to think differently and doing stuff that other people aren’t doing,” Kotsenburg said. “And it’s a lot harder, honestly, to do these grabs and tricks.”

Sandbech and the two Canadians who criticized White on Twitter, Sebastien Toutant and Max Parrot, advanced to the finals.

Bright, meanwhile, cruised into the women’s finals. She may not be focused on medals, but if she keeps it up, she might find herself handed one — or two, or three.